Kevin Willard quote book: Manhattan

On Seton Hall's mood as a team entering Big East play:
"I think we're excited. We're excited about being 11-2, having a great road win at Louisville, a couple of good neutral site wins, a couple of good home wins. I think we've put ourselves in good position heading into the Big East, so I think everyone -- we were a little tired going into last week just because of that tough stretch of the five out of six, but I think with a couple of days off, I think guys really bounced back and I think everyone's really excited about league play."

On Michael Nzei and his production with Ismael Sanogo not available:
"I think we have a crazy stat -- we're 7-1 when he scores 10 or more points, or something like that. The great thing about Mike is he's going to score, but you don't have to run plays for him, and he really helps Angel on post-ups because he's really sneaky on the baseline, runs the floor well, gives Angel a break. He rebounds -- there wasn't much to get without the big fella getting them -- but Mike's always, whenever he's in there, Mike's been great. There's no difference whether he's getting 20 minutes or 30 minutes, Mike's going to give you great, solid minutes."

On Jordan Walker's first game back from a thumb injury:
"I gotta watch film. I thought he did a good job with pace, and that's kind of what I'd hoped with Jordan. I thought he did a great job of coming in and changing the game defensively."

On Seton Hall's defense being where he thought it would be:
"I think our first half defense has been phenomenal. We just have to keep our focus in the second half a little bit, but I like where our defensive mindset is. I think we're one of the best defensive teams in the country."

On Ismael Sanogo and his return from suspension:
"I'll be honest with you: I don't know when he'll be back, and that's my honest truth. I'm going to evaluate the situation after Christmas. We come back and we practice Christmas, I'll evaluate on the 26th. Right now, I'm in no rush. You have to act a certain way at this university, you have to respect the program, you have to respect the university, and you have to respect your teammates. And when you don't do all three, that's a huge issue with me. He's a senior, this is -- if you don't get it, I don't know. The timetable is nothing, it's not like he's back tomorrow. That ain't happening."

On whether Sanogo's suspension was related to off-the-court issues:
"There was definitely something off the court. It's nothing on the court, not academically, not basketball-wise. That's all I'll say."

On what this past week was like with Walker's near-transfer, Sanogo's suspension, and the first half skirmish in which Myles Powell was ejected:
"It was a tough week. Let's just put it this way: I'm not a happy camper. I've been -- you put time, effort and energy, and you hope you're guiding men the right way, and then when it goes off the rails, it's like getting stabbed in the heart a little bit, to be honest with you. So it hasn't been a good week, but I think it's been a good week basketball-wise because I think the team showed that they're focused, and they took care of business with what they had to do heading to the Big East. For me, I'm disappointed, I'm sad, I don't think I'm going to have a very merry Christmas to be honest with you; but I like where my team is, I like what my team did."

"We didn't have a bad week. Did we go 2-0? I had an issue with a senior and a young freshman for four hours. Twitter made it sound like 30. It was four hours. Jordan bounced back great, he came back with a great attitude, he showed some maturity, which was great, and Ish -- it's disappointing. You're going to have -- it's never smooth sailing. These are college kids. They're still trying to figure it out."

On Powell and the first half fracas:
"He had 13 points, four assists and two steals. I love my team because my team will always have each other's back, plain and simple. I'd be a little bit more disappointed if he sat there and didn't go. I thought both teams played hard, I thought both teams were playing aggressive and sometimes when both teams are playing hard and aggressive, you're going to have situations where there's a little dustup. Again, I thought the teams -- I look at it as, I thought the refs handled it great, I thought the teams handled it great, they got back and played basketball. When you're playing physical and hard, you're going to have instances where boys will be boys."

On Angel Delgado getting beaten over the top and handling physicality:
"No, I think Angel has been as consistent as any big man in the country. He's had 21 rebounds, 18 rebounds, I don't know what he got against Wagner the other night -- 15 and 10. He loves that. I think he'd much rather play against a team that's going to whack him, because that means he could whack them back. It goes both ways. I think when we play really, really small teams, he gets frustrated because he's gotta guard somewhere on the perimeter. I thought (Pauly) Paulicap was good and again, I thought that was a good basketball game. I thought both teams played good and hard and that's what Stevie's (Manhattan head coach Steve Masiello) teams do."

On Manhattan and where they project in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
"I think they're -- from playing against Monmouth, Saint Peter's and them, I think they're top three, if not top two, in that conference."

On Taurean Thompson, who is sitting out this season, not being in attendance:
"Taurean was dealing with a family issue. There's no reason for him to come to a game and shuffle back and forth."

On his relationship with Steve Masiello and coaching against him:
"It was. We've talked about this for a couple of years, about trying to play each other, and I think we're going to try to start a long-term series where maybe we go there, because I respect the job he does. I love the way his teams play, they play hard, they play aggressive. Defensively, they're always phenomenal, so when you -- it's what makes this area great for college basketball. We have a lot of good coaches in this area that really coach their teams up. From Monmouth to Iona, those guys are imbued in some great basketball."